The Union Budget for 2019 has been announced and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a number of promises for the overall development of the country's economy. While there haven't been major incentives for conventional vehicles in the auto sector, the government has recommended changes to the Goods Services Tax (GST) council for electric vehicles (EVs) reducing the GST rate from the current 12 per cent to five per cent, in a bid to make the vehicles affordable. In addition, consumers will be provided with an additional income tax deduction of Rs. 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on the loans taken to purchase electric vehicles.
Blacksmith Electric is a Chennai-based electric bike start-up and the company's first electric bike, the Blacksmith B2 will be launched in 2020. According to Blacksmith, the B2 is the first electric bike with a registered patent for battery swap technology.
Industry chamber FICCI called for the inclusion of battery swapping model of charging for incentives under FAME-II scheme on Friday to help the acceleration of electric mobility in India. The Rs. 10,000-crore Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME -II) envisages incentives mainly to 10 lakh registered electric two-wheelers, 5 lakh e-rickshaws and 7,090 e-buses.
The latest safety technology in two-wheelers has been revealed by Vancouver-based Damon Motorcycles, which uses 360-degree radar and live cameras to warn of possible collisions with other objects around it.
